Frank Hurley: The Man Who Made History

Synopsis

Frank Hurley and his camera literally discovered or revealed events, places and people that had never been seen before. But Hurley went far beyond the role of a mere observer, creating narratives and images that played with reality to create the story he wanted
 to tell. Hurley believed his composite photographs captured the real emotion behind the great events he was recording. In the documentary the audience discovers Frank Hurley and at the same time re-discovers how he manipulated some of the most iconic images of the 20th Century.

Hurley's photos of Antarctic heroes, World Wars and mysterious natives in faraway jungles grabbed the attention of all who saw them. But just how real were they? Was he a giant in photography or just a conjurer with a camera?

The central themes of the documentary involve truth and representation – whether
you believe that Hurley was right or wrong to manipulate images in order to construct
a narrative from real events in his belief that entertaining story-telling was more important than objectivity.